Gaming System Built With Kite, The DIY Android Kit

As a gamer, [Lexie Dostal] dreamed of a smartphone that was a viable gaming platform: something with enough power to run the games and emulators he was interested in, with the controls to make playing them feel natural. So when he got his hands on an early version of Kite, the modular open hardware platform designed to be hacked and customized, that’s exactly what he decided to build. The Kite kit would provide the touch screen and Android-equipped motherboard, he just needed to design a case and integrate controls to make it a real gaming device.

The case design [Lexie] came up with is inspired by the bottom half of the Nintendo 3DS, and ended up only a few centimeters wider than the stock case from the Kite kit. Unfortunately, his delta 3D printer wasn’t large enough to fit the device’s case, so he ended up having to break it into five separate pieces and glue them together. With the case in one piece he worked his way from 220 to 400 grit sand paper, filling any voids in the print with glue as he went. A few coats of primer, more sanding, and a final matte texture spray give the final case a very professional-looking finish.

Not only was the Nintendo 3DS an inspiration for the device, it was also a donor for some of the parts. The directional pad, analog “nub”, and buttons are replacement 3DS hardware, which is interfaced to the KiteBoard with an Arduino Nano. When he couldn’t find springs small enough to use for the shoulder buttons, he bought some thin music wire and wound them himself. Talk about attention to detail.

There’s quite a bit of gear packed into the case, but [Lexie] thinks there’s probably still room to make some improvements. He could free up some room by dropping the connectors and soldering everything directly, and says he’d like to come up with a custom PCB to better interface with the 3DS’s hardware to cut down on some of the wiring required. With the extra room he thinks the battery, currently a 3200 mAh pack designed for the LG V20 smartphone, could probably be replaced with something even bigger.

It’s cool that Kit is panning out!
I am wary of early tech startups that will “revolutionize” the industry. (I.E. Sixth Sense)
Kite so far is doing a fantastic job of getting out there with realistic goals.
Can’t wait till they are as common as Pis! (haha)

If you look at the code and the design files, it was so far back in the prototyping stage as to be pretty much an idea and little more. Someone needs to build a modern one using better hardware and projectors.